Hiring for BizOps, Part 1: Behavioral interviews

As I described in the previous post about hiring for BizOps, our interview process at Zendesk has two rounds: a round-robin behavioral interview that explores a candidate’s soft skills, and a case study presentation to a panel where the candidate can demonstrate their technical skills.

The goal of the behavioral interview round is to explore the candidate’s interpersonal skills, particularly those most important in BizOps:

• Customer mindset
• Desire to be challenged and grow
• Knowing when to lead and when to be a team player

According to a 2019 LinkedIn Global Talent Trends report, only 41% of companies have a formal process to assess soft skills, despite 92% saying soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills.

So — how do we do it?

First, we clearly define for all interview panelists (typically four people in this round) what those three key “soft skill” qualities are that we’re looking for. Then, we give them a list of open-ended questions to ask that give the candidate a chance to describe their experience.

Sample Questions to Explore our Priority “Soft” Skills

Customer mindset

• Give me an example of a time when you did not meet a stakeholder’s expectation. What happened, and how did you resolve the situation?
• Have you ever had to say ‘no’ to a stakeholder, and how did you handle the situation?

Desire to be challenged and grow

• Tell me about a time you were dissatisfied with your work. What could have been done to make it better?
• Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed. How did you handle it?

Knowing when to lead and when to be a team player

• Have you ever worked with someone you struggled to communicate with? If so, what was the obstacle and how did you handle it?
• We all make mistakes we wish we could take back. Tell me about a time you wish you’d handled a situation differently with a colleague.

As you can see, none of these questions have “right” or “wrong” answers or guide the candidate in a specific direction; they give the candidate an opportunity to highlight their personal style, their values, and what they’ve learned in prior roles. Whether those answers are a fit with your team and your company is up to the interview panelists to decide.

Next, for candidates who are determined to be a good fit from a style and culture perspective, you’ll want to also get a demonstration of their technical abilities — I’ll dive into our case presentation round next time!